Suction dredges are large gasoline-powered vacuum cleaners that suck the gravel from stream bottoms and run it through a settling device that concentrates the gold flecks left behind since the Gold Rush of the 1850s.Ĭonservation groups contend the technique damages fish and water quality. It would also limit the number of miners to one every 500 feet on a river. The bill would cap the number of dredging permits at 850 through 2016, giving preference to people who held permits in 2009. The 17-13 vote in Salem sends SB838 to the House. Hoping to keep California and Idaho gold miners from putting more pressure on Oregon salmon streams, the Oregon Senate on Wednesday passed a bill to cap the number of permits for suction dredge mining equipment and to prohibit mining in salmon spawning areas year-round. B., 1910, Merced County, dredging: California Min. l., 1916, Merced County, gold: California Min. W., 1952, Merced County, gold: California Jour. Goldfields, 1930-41, two dredges.ĭavis, F. Merced Dredging Co., 1934-49, one dredge San Joaquin Mining Co., 1936-42, one dredge Snelling Gold Dredging Co., 1932-52, two dredges Yosemite Mining & Dredging Co., 1907-19, one dredge Yuba Cons. Dredge recoveries ranged from 10 to 30 cents in gold per yard, with the average close to 10 cents. The gold is fairly fine and about 890 in fineness. Bedrock is slate in the east and volcanic ash in the west. The dredged area is about nine miles long and 1/2 to 1 1/2 miles wide. The gravels are loose with very little clay and range from 20 to 35 feet in depth. The values were recovered from stream gravels and flood plain and terrace deposits in and adjacent to the Merced River. The value of the total output of the district is unknown, but the dredges are estimated to have produced about $17 million. There was dredging again from 1929 until 19 to 1952. Gold dredging began in 1907 and continued until 1919. The town, named in 1851 for Charles Snelling, who operated a hotel and ranch here, was the governmental seat of Merced County from 1857 until 1872. Some placer mining and hydraulic mining of the terrace deposits along the river were practiced during the gold rush. The Snelling district is in eastern Merced County along the Merced River between the towns of Snelling and Merced Falls.
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